Image processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An image processing apparatus includes a control unit that acts as: a searcher searching a first and second file, each including a text that is different in language from each other; a translator generating a translated text in the second file, by translating the text in the second file into a same language as a language of the text in the first file; a comparator comparing between the text in the first file and the translated text generated from the second file, and detecting a difference between the text in the first file and the text in the second file through comparison; and an outputter creating and outputting an image including both of the text in the first file and the text in the second file, with the difference detected by the comparator marked on the text in the first file or the text in the second file.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.2017-241114 filed on Dec. 15, 2017, the entire contents of which areincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an image processing apparatus having atext translation function, and more particularly to a technique tocompare between texts that are different in language from each other.

A technique to detect and present, for example when composing a paralleltranslation by editing a translated text produced by machinetranslation, a word in the original text that is likely to be omitted inthe translation process, has been known.

In addition, a technique has been developed to detect, in addition tooutputting an image for printing, for example a grammatical error, ifany, in the characters included in the image to be printed, and pointout the error by adding an indication to the outputted image.

Further, a technique to collate, compare, and combine correspondencesbetween words or word strings included in a plurality of translationresults, has been known.

SUMMARY

The disclosure proposes further improvement of the foregoing technique.

In an aspect, the disclosure provides an image processing apparatusincluding a control unit. The control unit includes a processor, andacts as a searcher, a translator, a comparator, and an outputter, whenthe processor executes a control program. The searcher searches a firstfile and a second file, each including a text that is different inlanguage from each other. The translator generates a translated text ofthe second file, by translating the text in the second file into a samelanguage as a language of the text in the first file. The comparatorcompares between the text in the first file and the translated textgenerated from the second file, and detects a difference between thetext of the first file and the text of the second file, through thecomparison. The outputter creates an image including both of the text inthe first file and the text in the second file, with the differencedetected by the comparator marked on the text in the first file or thetext in the second file, and executes a process for outputting thecreated image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatusincorporated with an image processing apparatus according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an essential internal configuration ofthe image forming apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing an example of a source imagestored in a first file, and a source image stored in a second file.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing another example of a source imagestored in the first file, and a source image stored in the second file.

FIG. 5A is a schematic drawing showing Japanese texts in the first fileand English texts in the second file, alternately written in pairs.

FIG. 5B is a schematic drawing showing another image including Japanesetexts in the first file and English texts in the second file,alternately written in pairs.

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing showing still another example of a sourceimage stored in the first file, and a source image stored in the secondfile.

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing showing still another example of a sourceimage stored in the first file, and a source image stored in the secondfile.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing a process of searching the first file andthe second file to detect a difference between the text in the firstfile and the text in the second file, and outputting the difference.

FIG. 8B is a flowchart showing a process that follows the process ofFIG. 8A.

FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing showing a selection screen of a languagejoint-writing mode, displayed on a display unit.

FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing showing a set-up screen of the languagejoint-writing mode, displayed on the display unit.

FIG. 11 is a schematic drawing showing another example of the set-upscreen of the language joint-writing mode, displayed on the displayunit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereafter, an embodiment of the disclosure will be described, withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming apparatusincorporated with an image processing apparatus according to theembodiment of the disclosure. The image forming apparatus 10 is amultifunction peripheral (MFP) configured to execute a plurality offunctions including, for example, a copying function, a printingfunction, a scanning function, and a facsimile function. The imageforming apparatus 10 includes an image reading unit 11 and an imageforming unit 12.

The image reading unit 11 includes a scanner for optically reading asource document, and generates image data representing the image of thesource document, by converting an analog signal outputted from an imagesensor of the scanner, into a digital signal.

The image forming unit 12 is configured to print an image based on theimage data generated by the image reading unit 11 or received fromoutside, on a recording sheet, and includes an image forming subunit 3Mfor magenta, an image forming subunit 3C for cyan, an image formingsubunit 3Y for yellow, and an image forming subunit 3Bk for black. Ineach of the image forming subunits 3M, 3C, 3Y, and 3Bk, the surface of aphotoconductor drum 4 is uniformly charged, and an electrostatic latentimage is formed on the surface of the photoconductor drum 4 by exposure.Then the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductordrum 4 is developed into a toner image, and the toner image on thephotoconductor drum 4 is transferred to an intermediate transfer roller5. Thus, the color toner image is formed on the intermediate transferroller 5. The color toner image is transferred to the recording sheet Ptransported along a transport route 8 from a paper feed unit 7, at a nipregion N defined between the intermediate transfer roller 5 and asecondary transfer roller 6.

Thereafter, the recording sheet P is press-heated in a fixing device 15,so that the toner image on the recording sheet P is fixed by thermalcompression, and then the recording sheet P is discharged to an outputtray 17 through a discharge roller pair 16.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an essential internal configuration ofthe image forming apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the image formingapparatus 1 includes a control unit 31, a display unit 32, an operationunit 34, a touch panel 35, a network communication unit 36, a facsimilecommunication unit 37, a storage unit 38, an image memory 39, the imagereading unit 11, and the image forming unit 12. The mentioned componentsare configured to transmit and receive data or signals to and from eachother, via a bus.

The display unit 32 is, for example, constituted of a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.

The operation unit 34 includes arrow keys for moving, for example, afocus in a GUI displayed on the display unit 32, an enter key forconfirming the operation with respect to the GUI, s start key, and soforth. The operation unit 34 serves as a unit for inputting the user'sinstruction.

The touch panel 35 is overlaid on the screen of the display unit 32. Thetouch panel 35 is based on a resistive film or electrostaticcapacitance, and configured to detect a contact (touch) of the user'sfinger, along with the touched position, to input the user's instructionto, for example, the GUI on the screen of the display unit 32.Accordingly, the touch panel 35 serves as an operation unit forinputting the user's instruction, according to the operation performedby the user on the screen of the display unit 32.

The network communication unit 36 transmits and receives various data toand from non-illustrated other terminal devices, through a network. Thenetwork communication unit 36 serves as a communication unit that makescommunication with the terminal devices through the network. Thefacsimile communication unit 37 transmits and receives image data to andfrom non-illustrated other image forming apparatuses or facsimilemachines, through the network.

The storage unit 38 includes a large-capacity solid state drive (SSD) ora hard disk drive (HDD), and contains various data and programs.

The image memory 39 temporarily stores image data representing thesource image read by the image reading unit 11, image data retrievedfrom the storage unit 38 by a controller 41, and image data received bythe network communication unit 36.

The control unit 31 includes a processor, a random-access memory (RAM),a read-only memory (ROM), and so forth. The processor is, for example, acentral processing unit (CPU), a MPU, an ASIC, or the like. The controlunit 31 includes the controller 41, a display controller 42, and acommunication controller 43, a searcher 44, a layout analyzer 45, atranslator 46, a comparator 47, and an outputter 48, each of whichperforms the function when the processor executes a program stored inthe ROM or the storage unit 38. Alternatively, the mentioned componentsmay each be formed of a hardware circuit.

The controller 41 serves to control the overall operation of the imageforming apparatus 10. The display controller 42 controls the displayunit 32 so as to cause the display unit 32 to display the GUI andvarious types of information. The communication controller 43 isconfigured to control the communication operation of the networkcommunication unit 36 and the facsimile communication unit 37.

The searcher 44 searches the storage unit 38 to retrieve a filedesignated by operating the operation unit 34 or the touch panel 35, oranother fill related to the designated file. The searcher 44 alsosearches a storage on the network to acquire such files, through thecommunication controller 43 and the network communication unit 36. Thestorage on the network may be provided by a server, a work station, or aPC.

The layout analyzer 45 performs layout analysis with respect to thesource image represented by the image data in the image memory 39, tothereby decide a text region, and image region, or a table region, inthe source image. The layout analyzer 45 also extracts a character textfrom the text region.

The storage unit 38 contains a character database (DB) in which aplurality of character patterns for pattern matching are stored. Thelayout analyzer 45 converts each of images included in the text regioninto a character text, with an optical character recognition (OCR)technique. In addition, character patterns are registered in thecharacter database (DB) with respect to a plurality of languages, andtherefore the layout analyzer 45 decides, on the basis of the convertedcharacter text, the type of the language of the character represented bythe character text. Hereinafter, a group of character texts generated byconverting a text region in the source image into a character text willbe referred to as text.

The translator 46 translates, with respect to two types of texts to becompared, which are different in language from each other, one of thetexts into the same language as that of the other, to thereby generate atranslated text.

The comparator 47 compares between a given text and a text translatedtherefrom, which is the object of the comparison with the given text, tothereby detect a difference between those texts.

The outputter 48 outputs a difference in each of the texts, detected bythe comparator 47. For example, the outputter 48 causes the imageforming unit 12 to form the difference in the text (e.g., an imagerepresenting the difference) on the recording sheet, or causes thecommunication controller 43 and the network communication unit 36 totransmit the difference to a terminal device on the network.

With the image forming apparatus 10 configured as above, for example,when the user selects the copying function by operating the operationunit 34 or the touch panel 35, thus to instruct execution of a copyingjob, the controller 41 causes the image reading unit 11 to read a sourcedocument image, and once stores the image data representing the sourceimage in the image memory 39. Then the controller 41 inputs the imagedata to the image forming unit 12 from the image memory 39, and causesthe image forming unit 12 to print the source document image on therecording sheet.

As another example, the user may instruct, upon selecting apredetermined language joint-writing mode by operating the operationunit 34 or the touch panel 35, to retrieve the first file and the secondfile containing source images, including texts that are different inlanguage from each other. Here, it will be assumed that at this pointthe user is aware of the languages used in the first file and the secondfile, by his/her own judgment.

The searcher 44 searches, according to the mentioned instruction fromthe user, the storage unit 38 or the storage on the network for thefirst file and the second file, and stores these files in the imagememory 39. Then the layout analyzer 45 extracts a text (a given text)from the source image in the first file, and also extracts a text (textfor comparison) from the source image in the second file.

The translator 46 translates the text in the second file into the samelanguage as that of the text in the first file, to thereby generate atranslated text of the second file. The comparator 47 compares betweenthe text in the first file and the translated text of the second file,and detects a difference between the text in the first file and the textin the second file.

The outputter 48 outputs the mentioned texts, for example in a jointwriting mode, with the detected difference indicated on the text of thefirst file or on the text of the second file.

For example, the searcher 44 retrieves from the storage unit 38, oracquires from the storage on the network, the first file including asource image G1 and the second file including a source image G2 shown inFIG. 3, and stores these files in the image memory 39.

The layout analyzer 45 performs layout analysis with respect to thesource image G1 in the first file in the image memory 39, and identifiestext regions X1 and image regions Z1. The layout analyzer 45 extracts atext T1 composed of a plurality of characters from the text region X1,by the character text conversion, with respect to each of the textregions X1.

The layout analyzer 45 also performs layout analysis with respect to thesource image G2 in the second file in the image memory 39, andidentifies text regions X2 and image regions Z2, and then extracts atext T2 composed of a plurality of characters from the text region X2,with respect to each of the text regions X2.

Further, the layout analyzer 45 identifies the correspondence betweenthe text T1 in each of the text regions X1 and the text T2 in each ofthe text regions X2, in other words which of the texts T1 in the textregions X1 and which of the texts T2 in the text regions X2 are to becompared, on the basis of the respective positions of the text regionsX1 in the source image G1 in the first file, and the respectivepositions of the text regions X2 in the source image G2.

Through the analysis performed by the layout analyzer 45, it isidentified that, for example as shown in FIG. 3, the source image G1 inthe first file includes the plurality of text regions X1 written inJapanese and the plurality of image regions Z1, and that the sourceimage G2 in the second file includes the plurality of text regions X2written in English and the plurality of image regions Z2.

Although the source image G1 includes the texts T1 in Japanese and thesource image G2 includes the texts T2 in English in this example, theJapanese text and the English text are unable to be directly compared.Accordingly, the translator 46 translates the texts T2 in English in thesecond file into Japanese, which is the language in which the texts T1in the first file are written, on the basis of the analysis resultprovided by the layout analyzer 45, and generates the translated textwith respect to each of the texts T2 in English in the second file.

The comparator 47 then compares between the text T1 and the translatedtext generated from the text T2 corresponding to the text T1, withrespect to each of the texts T1 in the first file, and detects adifference between the text T1 and the text T2, through the comparison.For example, the comparator 47 extracts a word not included in the textT1 in the first file, from the translated text generated from the textT2 corresponding to the text T1, and extracts the word corresponding tothe word extracted as above, from the text T2 in the second file, thusdetecting the extracted word as difference. Alternatively, thecomparator 47 may extract a word not included in the translated textgenerated from the text T2 in the second file, from the text T1 in thefirst file, and detect the extracted word as difference.

The outputter 48 creates an image, for example upon locating the sourceimage G1 and the source image G2 side by side as shown in FIG. 3, inwhich the difference is indicated on the text T1 in Japanese in thesource image G1, or in which the difference is indicated on the text T2in English in the source image G2. For example, the outputter 48 maycreate an image in which the word detected as difference in the text T1or text T2 is underlined or framed, or displayed in a different colorfrom the remaining words.

When a large number of image regions are included in the source image G1and the source image G2 as shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that theoutputter 48 creates an image in which the source image G1 and thesource image G2 are located side by side. In this case, the images ofthe source image G1 and the source image G2 can be created withoutcompromising the appearance.

When only a small number of image regions are included in the sourceimage G1 and the source image G2, the outputter 48 may extract only thetexts T1 in Japanese from the source image G1, and the texts T2 inEnglish from the source image G2 in the joint writing mode, and createan image in which the word detected as difference is underlined orframed, or displayed in a different color from the remaining words, atleast in one of the text T1 and the text T2, instead of locating thesource image G1 and the source image G2 side by side. Such anarrangement facilitates the comparison between the text T1 and the textT2, compared with the case where the source image G1 and the sourceimage G2 are displayed in mixture.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing another example of the sourceimage in the first file, and the source image in the second file. Thesource image G1 in the first file includes a table region H1, aplurality of text regions X1 in Japanese, and an image region Z1, andthe source image G2 in the second file includes a table region H2, aplurality of text regions X2 in English, and an image region Z2.

In this case also, the searcher 44 retrieves the first file and thesecond file and stores the files in the image memory 39. The layoutanalyzer 45 performs layout analysis with respect to the source imageG1, and identifies the table region H1, the text regions X1, and theimage regions Z1. The layout analyzer 45 also performs layout analysiswith respect to the source image G2, and identifies the table region H2,the text regions X2, and the image region Z2. Then the layout analyzer45 extracts the texts T1 and the texts T2 from the respective textregions X1 and X2, and identifies the correspondence between the text T1in each of the text regions X1 and the text T2 in each of the textregions X2.

The translator 46 translates the texts T2 in the second file intoJapanese, which is the language in which the texts T1 in the first fileare written, and generates the respective translated texts. Thecomparator 47 compares between the text T1 and the translated textgenerated from the text T2 corresponding to the text T1, with respect toeach of the texts T1 in the first file, and detects a difference betweenthe text T1 and the text T2, through the comparison. The outputter 48creates an image displaying the source image G1 and the source image G2side by side, in which the word detected as difference is underlined orframed, or displayed in a different color, at least in one of the textT1 and the text T2.

Alternatively, each of the texts T1 in Japanese in the first file andthe corresponding text T2 in English in the second file may bealternately located, so as to constitute a pair as shown in FIG. 5A,instead of displaying the source image G1 in the first file and thesource image G2 in the second file, side by side as shown in FIG. 4. InFIG. 5A, the text T1 in Japanese and the text T2 in Englishcorresponding to the text T1 are aligned in the up-down direction as apair, with respect to each of the texts T1. The outputter 48 may alsocreate an image in which the word detected as difference is underlinedor framed, or displayed in a different color, at least in one of thetext T1 in Japanese and the text T2 in English. In this case, theoutputter 48 creates an image in which each of the texts T1 in Japanesein the first file and the corresponding text T2 in English in the secondare alternately located so as to constitute a pair, utilizing the tableregion and the image region in one of the source image G1 and the sourceimage G2.

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing showing still another example of thesource image in the first file, and the source image in the second file.In the example shown in FIG. 6, the outputter 48 is displaying an imagein which the source image G1 in the first file and the source image G2in the second file are located side by side in the horizontal direction,and the word detected as difference is underlined or framed, ordisplayed in a different color, at least in one of the text T1 inJapanese and the text T2 in English.

When only a small number of image regions are included in the sourceimage G1 and the source image G2, the outputter 48 may extract the textsT1 from the source image G1 and the texts T2 from the source image G2and display both of the extracted texts, thus omitting the imageincluding the image region, instead of displaying the source image G1and the source image G2 side by side.

FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing showing still another example of thesource image in the first file, and the source image in the second file.In the example shown in FIG. 7, the outputter 48 is displaying an imagein which the source image G1 in the first file and the source image G2in the second file are located side by side in the horizontal direction.In this example, the source image G1 in the first file includes a tableregion H1 having two display fields R, each of which includes aplurality of text regions X1 in Japanese, and an image regions Z1.Likewise, the source image G2 in the second file includes a table regionH2 having two display fields R, each of which includes a plurality oftext regions X2 in English, and an image regions Z2. In this example,the outputter 48 creates an image in which the word detected asdifference is underlined or framed, or displayed in a different color,at least in one of the text T1 in Japanese and the text T2 in English.

Here, the outputter 48 may extract the texts T1 from the source image G1and the texts T2 from the source image G2 and display both of theextracted texts, thus omitting the image including the image region ineach of the display fields R, instead of displaying the source image G1and the source image G2 side by side.

Hereunder, a process of searching the first file and the second file, todetect and output a difference between the text in the first file andthe text in the second file as above, will be described with referenceto the flowcharts shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B.

First, when the user inputs an instruction to display a setup screen D1in the language joint-writing mode as shown in FIG. 9, through theoperation unit 34 and the touch panel 35, the controller 41 causes,through the display controller 42, the display unit 32 to display thesetup screen D1, according to the instruction. In the setup screen D1 ofthe language joint-writing mode, check boxes CH11 and CH12 forinstructing to turn on and off the language joint-writing mode, a backkey BK, and a next key NX are displayed. When the user puts a check inthe check box CH11 to turn on the language joint-writing mode, andpresses the next key NX through the operation unit 34 or touch panel 35,the controller 41 accepts the setting of the language joint-writing mode(step S101).

When the controller 41 accepts the language joint-writing mode, thedisplay controller 42 turns off the set-up screen D1, and instead causesthe display unit 32 to display a set-up screen D2 of the languagejoint-writing mode, as shown in FIG. 10 (step S102). The set-up screenD2 of the language joint-writing mode includes check boxes CH21 and CH22for indicating whether the first file and the second file, respectivelycontaining texts that are different in language from each other, are tobe handled, check boxes CH23, CH24, and CH25 for indicating whether thesource images in the first file and the second file include the textregion, the image region, and the table region, respectively, checkboxes CH26 and CH27 for specifying the application range of the languagejoint-writing mode (e.g., pages of the source image), a check box CH28for instructing whether a difference between the text in the first fileand the text in the second file is to be notified, the back key BK, andthe next key NX.

FIG. 10 illustrates the set-up screen D2 of the language joint-writingmode in which, as default settings, the check box CH21 for indicatingthat both of the first file and the second file are to be handled isselected by the user, a check is put in each of the check boxes CH23,CH24, and CH25 for indicating that the source image in the first fileand the second file includes the text region, the image region, and thetable region, the check box CH26 for indicating that the languagejoint-writing mode is to be applied to the entirety of the source imageis selected, and a check is put in the check box CH28 for indicatingthat the difference between the text in the first file and the text inthe second file is to be notified. When the user puts a check in anydesired check box through the operation unit 34 or touch panel 35, theinstruction corresponding to the selected check box is inputted, andaccepted by the controller 41.

When the user presses the next key NX through the operation unit 34 ortouch panel 35, the controller 41 receives the input of the instructionto execute the language joint-writing mode according to the settingsspecified on the set-up screen D2, thereby accepting the instruction toexecute the language joint-writing mode.

When the user designates, through the operation unit 34 or touch panel35, the first file and the second file respectively including texts thatare different in language, by inputting the name of the first file andthe name of the second file, the searcher 44 retrieves the first fileand the second file from the storage unit 38 (step S103). Alternatively,the searcher 44 may retrieve the first file from the storage unit 38when the user designates the first file by inputting the name thereofthrough the operation unit 34 or touch panel 35, and further retrievethe second file related to the first file from the storage unit 38, forexample on the basis of the name of the first file. In addition, thedisplay controller 42 may cause the display unit 32 to display a listincluding a plurality of files stored in advance in the storage unit 38,to allow the user to select and designate first file and the secondfile, or the first file alone through the operation unit 34 or touchpanel 35, and the controller 41 may accept such designation.

In the case where the searcher 44 fails to retrieve the first file andthe second file from the storage unit 38, or retrieves only the firstfile from the storage unit 38 (No at step S103), the searcher 44searches the storage on the network, for the first file and the secondfile, or for the second file related to the first file, on the basis ofthe name thereof (step S104 and S105). In the case where the searcher 44fails to make access to the storage (No at step S104), or fails toretrieve the first file and the second file from the storage (or failsto retrieve the second file from the storage on the network, in the casewhere only the first file has been retrieved from the storage unit 38 atstep S103) (No at step S105), the display controller 42 causes thedisplay unit 32 to display a message to the effect that the languagejoint-writing mode is finished (step S106), and the operation of FIG. 8Aand FIG. 8B is finished.

In the case where, upon making access to the storage (Yes at step S104),the searcher 44 successfully retrieves the first file and the secondfile from the storage (or retrieves the second file from the storage, inthe case where only the first file has been retrieved from the storageunit 38 at step S103) (Yes at step S105), the display controller 42causes the display unit 32 to display the first file and the second file(or only the second file, in the case where only the first file has beenretrieved from the storage unit 38 at step S103) (step S107). At thispoint, in the case where the user does not select the first file and thesecond file (or only the second file, in the case where only the firstfile has been retrieved from the storage unit 38 at step S103) (No atstep S108), the display controller 42 causes the display unit 32 todisplay a message to the effect that the language joint-writing mode isfinished (step S106), and the operation of FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B isfinished.

In contrast, in the case where the user selects the first file and thesecond file (or only the second file, in the case where only the firstfile has been retrieved from the storage unit 38 at step S103), throughthe operation unit 34 or touch panel 35, and the controller 41 acceptssuch selection (Yes at step S108), the searcher 44 acquires both of thefirst file and the second file retrieved from the storage (or only thesecond file, in the case where only the first file has been retrievedfrom the storage unit 38 at step S103).

Therefore, in the case where the searcher 44 retrieves the first fileand the second file upon searching the storage unit 38 (Yes at stepS103), or where the controller 41 accepts the selection of the firstfile and the second file (or only the second file, in the case whereonly the first file has been retrieved from the storage unit 38 at stepS103) inputted by the user through the operation unit 34 or touch panel35 (Yes at step S108), both of the first file and the second file (oronly the second file, in the case where only the first file has beenretrieved from the storage unit 38 at step S103) are acquired.

When the user inputs the application range of the language joint-writingmode by operating the operation unit 34 on the set-up screen D2, thecontroller 41 accepts the designation of the application range. Thesearcher 44 retrieves the source image on the page(s) corresponding tothe application range from the first file in the storage unit 38,according to the instruction of the application range and stores theretrieved source image in the image memory 39, and also retrieves thesource image on the page(s) corresponding to the application range fromthe second file in the storage unit 38, and stores the retrieved sourceimage in the image memory 39 (step S109).

The layout analyzer 45 performs the layout analysis with respect to eachof the source image in the first file and the source image of the secondfile in the image memory 39, to thereby sequentially identify the textregion, the image region, and the table region in each of the sourceimages. Then the layout analyzer 45 extracts the text from each textregion by the character text conversion, and identifies the language ofthe characters of the extracted text (step S110). The layout analyzer 45also identifies the correspondence between the texts in the text regionin the first file and the texts in the text region in the second file,on the basis of the respective positions of the text regions in thesource image in the first file, and the respective positions of the textregions in the source image in the second file.

The translator 46 translates the texts in the second file into the samelanguage as that of the texts in the first file, to thereby generate therespective translated texts, and stores the translated texts in thestorage unit 38, in association with the corresponding texts in thesecond file (step S111).

The comparator 47 identifies the texts in the second file respectivelycorresponding to the texts in the first file, on the basis of thecorrespondence identified by the layout analyzer 45, and comparesbetween the texts in the first file and the translated texts generatedfrom the texts in the second file respectively corresponding to thetexts in the first file (step S112). The comparator 47 sequentiallydecides, through such comparison, whether there is a difference betweenthe text in the first file and the text in the second file (step S113).

In the case where there is a difference (Yes at step S113), thecomparator 47 marks the difference on the text in the first file or thetext in the second file stored in the storage unit 38, and associatesthe corresponding texts (step S114). For example, the comparator 47extracts a word not included in the text in the first file from thetranslated text, and detects a word in the text in the second filecorresponding to the extracted word, as the difference, and thenassociates the text in the first file with the text in the second file,by marking the detected word in the text in the second file.Alternatively, the comparator 47 may detect a word in the text in thefirst file not included in the translated text, as the difference, andassociate the text in the first file with the text in the second file,by marking the detected word in the text in the first file.

In the case where there is no difference between the text in the firstfile and the text in the second file (No at step S113), the comparator47 associates the text in the first file with the text in the secondfile stored in the storage unit 38, without indicating the difference(step S115).

Then the comparator 47 decides whether any of the texts in the firstfile has not yet been compared with the translated text (step S116).Upon deciding that there is such a text (Yes at step S116), thecomparator 47 repeats the operation of step S112 to step S116, tocompare the remaining text in the first file with the translated text.Upon deciding that there is no such text (No at step S116), thecomparator 47 finishes the operation of step S112 to step S116, andproceeds to step S117.

When the operation of step S112 to step S116 is finished, the controller41 looks up the texts in the first file and the respectively associatedtexts in the second file, stored in the storage unit 38, and counts thenumber of words detected as the difference at step S114, with respect tothe texts in the first file and the respectively associated texts in thesecond file. The controller 41 then decides whether the number of wordsis equal to or fewer than a predetermined reference value Q (Q=0 or aninteger; in this embodiment, 0) (step S117). In the case where thecontroller 41 decides that the number of words is equal to or fewer thanthe reference value Q (Yes at step S117), the display controller 42causes the display unit 32 to display a message to the effect that thetexts in the first file and the texts in the second file agree with eachother (step S118). The outputter 48 creates an image including both ofthe texts in the first file and the texts in the second file, andoutputs the image (step S119).

In contrast, in the case where the controller 41 decides that the numberof words exceeds the reference value Q (No at step S117), the displaycontroller 42 causes the display unit 32 to display a message to theeffect that the texts in the first file and the texts in the second filedisagree (step S120). The outputter 48 creates an image including bothof the texts in the first file and the texts in the second file, witheach of the words representing the difference marked on the text in thefirst file, or on the text in the second file, and outputs such image(step S121).

In the case where the controller 41 makes the mentioned decision at stepS117, with the predetermined reference value Q set to an integer such as5, instead of 0, the display controller 42 causes the display unit 32 todisplay the message to the effect that the texts in the first file andthe texts in the second file agree, when the number of different wordsis equal to or fewer than 5. Although one of sentences of differentlanguages in translated and converted into the same language, thecontent of the converted sentence may not always perfectly agree withthe counterpart sentence. Therefore, modifying thus the reference valueQ allows the criterion for decision of the agreement between the text inthe first file and the text in the second file to be adjusted to a levelrequired by the user.

The operations executed by the outputter 48, to output the texts in thefirst file and the texts in the second file, are as illustrated in FIG.3 to FIG. 7. For example, the outputter 48 decides whether the number ofimage regions in the source image in the first file, or the number ofimage regions in the source image in the second file is equal to orfewer than a predetermined specified value (e.g., 3). Upon deciding thatthe number of image regions exceeds the specified value, the outputter48 retrieves the source image in the first file and the source image inthe second file from the image memory 39 as shown in FIG. 3, and alsosequentially retrieves the words detected as difference from the storageunit 38. The outputter 48 then creates an image including both of theretrieved source images, with the words detected as the differenceunderlined or framed, or displayed in a different color, in the text inthe source images.

In contrast, when the outputter 48 decides that the number of imageregions in the source image in the first file, or the number of imageregions in the source image in the second file is equal to or fewer thanthe specified value, the outputter 48 extracts the texts in Japanesefrom the source image in the first file, and the texts in English fromthe source image in the second file, and also sequentially retrieves thewords detected as difference from the storage unit 38. Then theoutputter 48 creates an image including both of the extracted texts,with the words detected as the difference underlined or framed, ordisplayed in a different color, in the text in the source images.

Alternatively, the outputter 48 may retrieve the source image in thefirst file and the source image in the second file from the image memory39 as shown in FIG. 4, and also sequentially retrieve the words detectedas difference from the storage unit 38. The outputter 48 may then createan image including both of the retrieved source images, with the wordsdetected as the difference in the text in the source images underlinedor framed, or displayed in a different color. Otherwise, the outputter48 may create an image in which the text in the first file and thecorresponding text in the second file are aligned in the up-downdirection as a pair, with respect to each of the texts in the firstfile, as shown in FIG. 5A, with the words sequentially retrieved fromthe storage unit 38 as the difference underlined or framed, or displayedin a different color, in the text in the source images.

The outputter 48 may also create an image as shown in FIG. 6, in whichthe text in the first file and the text in the second file are locatedside by side as a pair, with the words detected as the differenceunderlined or framed, or displayed in a different color, in the text inthe first file or in the text in the second file.

Further, the outputter 48 may create an image in which the table regionsin the source image in the first file and the table regions in thesource image in the second file are located side by side as shown inFIG. 7, with the words detected as the difference underlined or framed,or displayed in a different color, in the text in the first file or inthe text in the second file.

Here, translating a text into a text of a different language, andstoring the translated text in a corresponding file, allows the userswho respectively use different languages to read the text ofsubstantially the same content, by properly selecting the file.

However, in the case where the text in one of such files is updated,without the text in other files being updated, a difference is producedamong the texts in the respective files, and therefore the concordancein content among the texts in the respective files is lost. Accordingly,a technique to detect the difference in such a case is required.

However, a technique to compare between texts of different languages,and detect a difference between the texts, is yet unknown.

In this embodiment, the text in the second file is translated into thesame language as that of the text in the first file, thus to generate atranslated text, and a difference between the text in the first file andthe text in the second file is detected, through comparison between thetext in the first file and the translated text generated from the secondfile. Thus, the texts of different languages can be compared, and adifference in content between the texts can be detected. Therefore, thedifference between the texts that are different in language can beeasily confirmed. The arrangement according to this embodiment enables,for example when the text in only one of the files is updated, the userto check whether the update is reflected in both of the texts. Inaddition, since the detected difference is visually displayed, the usercan also check the accuracy of the translated text, with respect to thecounterpart text.

According to this embodiment, in addition, the outputter 48 creates andoutputs an image, in which both of the texts are displayed, and thedifference is marked in one of the texts in an easily recognizablemanner, which facilitates the user to compare those texts upon viewingthe outputted image.

Further, according to this embodiment, the outputter 48 creates theimage including both of the source image G1 and the source image G2,when the number of image regions in the source image in the first file,or the number of image regions in the source image in the second fileexceeds the specified value. Such an arrangement prevents the appearanceof the source image G1 and the source image G2 from collapsing, becauseof the image regions not being displayed. In addition, the outputter 48extracts the text T1 in Japanese in the source image G1 and the text T2in English in the source image G2 and displays these texts together,instead of displaying the source image G1 and the source image G2together, when the number of image regions is equal to or fewer than thespecified value. Therefore, provided that the appearance of the sourceimage G1 and source image G2 is kept from collapsing despite the imageregions not being displayed, the display of the image regions can beomitted, so as to facilitate the user to recognize the differencebetween the text Ti and the text T2.

Although the translator 46 is configured to generate the translated textfrom the second file in the foregoing embodiment, the translator 46 maygenerate the translated text from the text in the first file, forcomparison between the text in the second file as it is, and thetranslated text of the first file.

In addition, the layout analyzer 45 is configured to identify the textregion in each of the source images stored in the first file and thesecond file in the foregoing embodiment, so that the texts in the firstfile and the second file, extracted from the text regions identified,are compared. Instead, the first file and the second file may containthe text data in advance, without the layout analyzer 45 being involved,so that the comparator 47 compares between the texts, with respect tothe portion corresponding to the text data.

Naturally, various types of languages may be applied to the text in thefirst file and the text in the second file.

The outputter 48 may count the number of differences, and create animage in which, when the number of differences is equal to or fewer thana predetermined threshold, text in the first file and text in the secondfile are both displayed, with each of the differences marked on eithertext. When the number of differences exceeds the threshold, however, theoutputter 48 may create an image in which, as shown in FIG. 5B, only thetext on which the difference is marked, with respect to each of thedifferences, out of the text in the first file and text in the secondfile on one of which the difference is marked. In this case, the userrecognizes only the text on which the difference is marked, when thereare many differences, thus easily confirming the difference.

Further, the outputter 48 may create an image including both of the textin the first file and text in the second file, when the difference ismarked on one of the texts corresponding to each other, but skip thecreation of the image, when the difference is marked on neither of thetext in the first file and text in the second file corresponding to eachother.

The user may be allowed to set as desired the direction in which thetext in the first file and text in the second file are aligned as apair. For example, two check boxes CH31 and CH32 for selecting thealignment direction between the up-down direction and the left-rightdirection may be displayed in the set-up screen D3 of the languagejoint-writing mode shown in FIG. 11, for the user to select either checkbox through the operation unit 34 or touch panel 35. The outputter 48then accepts the alignment direction of the text in the first file andtext in the second file indicated by the selected check box, and setsthe alignment direction to one of the up-down direction and theleft-right direction, according to the alignment direction accepted.When the alignment direction of the text in the first file and the textin the second file is set to the left-right direction, the outputter 48creates and outputs an image in which, as shown in FIG. 5A, the text inthe first file and the text in the second file are aligned in theleft-right direction. In contrast, when the alignment direction of thetext in the first file and the text in the second file is set to theup-down direction, the outputter 48 creates an image in which, as shownin FIG. 5B, the text in the first file and the text in the second fileare aligned in the up-down direction.

The user may also be allowed to set the order of the location of thetext in the first file and text in the second file, in the set-up screenD2 of the language joint-writing mode.

Further, the outputter 48 may change the alignment direction of the textin the first file and text in the second file, from the left-rightdirection to the up-down direction, in the case where the length of atleast one of the texts in the left-right direction exceeds apredetermined length when these texts are aligned in the left-rightdirection. In this case, the alignment direction of the texts is changedto the up-down direction, when the length of at least one of the textsin the left-right direction is too long to display the texts side byside in the left-right direction, and therefore the joint writing of thetexts can be maintained.

The configurations and processings described with reference to FIG. 1 toFIG. 11 are merely exemplary, and in no way intended to limit thedisclosure to those configurations and processings.

While the present disclosure has been described in detail with referenceto the embodiments thereof, it would be apparent to those skilled in theart the various changes and modifications may be made therein within thescope defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image processing apparatus comprising acontrol unit including a processor, the control unit being configured toact, when the processor executes a control program, as: a searcher thatsearches a first file and a second file, each including a text that isdifferent in language from each other; a translator that generates atranslated text in the second file, by translating the text in thesecond file into a same language as a language of the corresponding textin the first file; a comparator that compares between the text in thefirst file and the translated text generated from the second file, anddetects a difference between the text in the first file and the text inthe second file, through the comparison; and an outputter that createsan image including both of the text in the first file and the text inthe second file, with the difference detected by the comparator markedon the text in the first file or the text in the second file, andexecutes a process for outputting the created image.
 2. The imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first file andthe second file each contain a source image including a text region andan image region, and the outputter creates an image including both ofthe source image in the first file and the source image in the secondfile, with the difference marked on the text included in the text regionin the first file or the text included in the text region in the secondfile, and executes a process for outputting the created image.
 3. Theimage processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first fileand the second file each contain a source image including a text regionand an image region, and the outputter creates an image including bothof the text region in the first file and the text region in the secondfile, with the difference marked on the text included in the text regionin the first file or the text included in the text region in the secondfile, and executes a process for outputting the created image.
 4. Theimage processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first fileand the second file each contain a source image including at least onetext region and a plurality of image regions, and the outputter creates,when a number of the image regions in the source image in the firstfile, or the image regions in the source image in the second file isequal to or fewer than a predetermined specified value, an imageincluding both of the text included in the text region in the first fileand the text included in the text region in the second file, with thedifference marked on the text in the text region in the first file orthe text in the text region in the second file, and executes a processfor outputting the created image, and creates, when the number of theimage regions in the source image in the first file, or the imageregions in the source image in the second file exceeds the specifiedvalue, an image including both of the source image in the first file andthe source image in the second file, with the difference marked on thetext in the text region in the first file or the text in the text regionin the second file, and executes a process for outputting the createdimage.
 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising an operation unit to be operated by a user to set analignment direction of the text in the first file and the text in thesecond file to one of an up-down direction and a left-right direction,wherein the outputter sets the alignment direction of the text in thefirst file and the text in the second file, to be adopted when creatingan image including both of the text in the first file and the text inthe second file, according to one of the up-down direction and theleft-right direction designated through the operation unit.
 6. The imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, when the alignmentdirection of the text in the first file and the text in the second fileis set to the left-right direction, the outputter changes the alignmentdirection to the up-down direction, in a case where a length of at leastone of the text in the first file and the text in the second file in theleft-right direction exceeds a predetermined length.
 7. The imageprocessing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein, when the alignmentdirection of the text in the first file and the text in the second fileis set to the left-right direction, the outputter creates an image inwhich the text in the first file and the text in the second file arealigned in the left-right direction, and when the alignment direction ofthe text in the first file and the text in the second file is set to theup-down direction, the outputter creates an image in which the text inthe first file and the text in the second file are aligned in theup-down direction.
 8. The image processing apparatus according to claim1, further comprising an image forming unit that forms an image on arecording sheet, wherein the outputter causes the image forming unit toform the created image on the recording sheet.
 9. The image processingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unitthat makes communication with a terminal device through a network,wherein the outputter causes the communication unit to transmit thecreated image to the terminal device, through the network.